Gaming is the new going out, the metaverse the new shopping mall. So how does a brand win at the point purchase when the customer’s not there?

Welcome to the KFC Re:Store. Using Unreal Engine 4, the Re:Store combines traditional Chinese design and cutting edge technology, launched within QQ, China’s most popular platform for younger users.

We Made it Social: Users could dance, play, and hang out with friends and a virtual Colonel Saunders (the first non-player character on the platform).

The Swag was on Point: We designed virtual merchandise, furniture, pets and even our own currency, KFC Chicken Coins - another first for the platform - which users could earn to pay for their virtual goodies.

We’re Making it Seamless: 180 million virtual KFC food items have sold in five weeks. Vouchers from the Re:Store can be redeemed in the physical store and vice versa. In a world first for the platform, users can order in the metaverse and have their order delivered in the real world. This revolutionary borderless commerce approach established a new commercial model for brands in the QQ platform.

We created a completely new retail concept within the metaverse, building powerful relationships with customers who are no longer visiting our real world stores.

Almost 7M pieces of virtual clothing, 11M items of virtual furniture and 180M virtual KFC food items were sold. If the Re:Store were a physical store it would be outselling bricks and mortar KFC stores 1000:1.

But our ambition is for a virtual store that drives real world sales.

Re:Store as a fully shoppable experience, will give KFC a unique retail footprint in one of the world’s largest economies, serving one of the world’s largest populations. A store with a footprint, and an energized customer base unimaginable in the real world. KFC once again transforming the customer experience and establishing a new commercial model.

What’s more, the Re:Store is already driving offline sales. Every August KFC launch the "CP Burger," a key promotional moment. By promoting it in the Re:Store we drove sales 5 x faster than previous years, selling 4M burgers in just one week.